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US intelligence agencies accused Vladimir Putin of launching an "influence campaign" to damage Hillary Clinton in a new report, with sources saying British intelligence provided the tip about Russia's hacking of the Democratic Party.

The report said Russia showed a "clear preference" for Donald Trump, the president-elect, and carried out cyber attacks and issued propaganda both to boost his chances and to undermine confidence in American democracy.

Mr Trump insisted on Friday that foreign meddling had "absolutely no effect" on the outcome of the election, and declined to say whether he believed Russia was behind the hacks.

Donald TrumpCredit:
AFP

British intelligence was reportedly aware of Russia's involvement as early as autumn 2015, warning the US that the country was responsible for the breach at the Democratic National Committee.

“The British picked it up, and we may have had it at about the same time,” a cyber expert briefed on the matter told the New York Times.

Earlier in the day, and before receiving a briefing on Russian hacking from America's four highest ranking intelligence officials, Mr Trump had dismissed the focus on Russian interference as a "political witch hunt" being carried out by his political foes.

After the much anticipated meeting at Trump Tower with the the director of national intelligence and chiefs of the CIA, FBI and NSA, Mr Trump said he would appoint a team to lead the effort against future cyber attacks.

He praised the intelligence community, with which he has had a combative relationship, but said hacking had "absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election".

The president-elect maintained for months that there was no evidence that Russia was behind hacks of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, despite assurances from US intelligence that the Kremlin was responsible.

According to the report, the assessment from the CIA, FBI and NSA is that Russian efforts showed a "significant escalation in directness, level of activity, and scope of effort compared to previous operations" to interfere in US elections.

James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, speaks as Admiral Michael Rogers, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), right, listens during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on foreign cyber threats to the United StatesCredit:
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Mr Trump said he did not want the US to be targeted by hackers, but that cyber attacks during the election were being given undue attention because his opponents had been “embarrassed” by the outcome.

“China, relatively recently, hacked 20 million government names,” he told the New York Times before the meeting. “How come nobody even talks about that? This is a political witch hunt.”

“They got beaten very badly in the election. I won more counties in the election than Ronald Reagan,” Mr. Trump said. “They are very embarrassed about it. To some extent, it’s a witch hunt. They just focus on this.”

Mr Trump, who has resisted calls for a Congressional investigation into Russian hacking, asked Congress to probe a leak of the intelligence report prior to his briefing on Friday.